Propellor driven watermaker – Help please
Last year when passing through Rio Brazil we saw a towed gizmo which turned sea water into drinking water by pumping sweet water up its towline. At the time, a watermaker was not on our list of priorities so we did not take details. Now that we are going to get one, predictably we have no info. Has anyone any advice on where they can be obtained ?

Re portable towed watermaker-
Just come upon your query, its probably a "waterlog" you saw. We got one last year and about 3,000 miles later are fairly pleased with it. Well made and good value. Hope this answers your point. Fair winds.

We are also interested is this watermaker and have asked the folks at West marine who know of it but no other info. No luck on the www either. If the previous contributer sees this he forgot to mention where he got his one. Thanks E.Hodges

We have looked at this and it is certainly the answer to making water. It seems to have every advantage low price/no fitting etc., but dont know if we want to tow something on passage. Views would be welcome. Thanks

We were about to install a watermaker for $3840 when we saw this portable one here. It does all we want for one third the cost. This shows that it pays to watch the forums to know whats going on. Thank you Sailnet.

Anything that is towed may get eaten by fish. Same problem has been reported by folks towing knotmeter impellers and water generators, anything that is trailing your boat may be mistaken for lunch. I guess the question is, how strong is the unit and how strong is the line attaching it?

And will they warranty it against being eaten?

They do say:
"The typical Waterlog impellor weighs 3 Lbs (1.4 Kilo), is 12 inches (30 cm) in diameter, and spins at speeds up to 1,100 r.p.m. If a large shark were to bite it, its head would be removed. For example, a fish never takes on a boat propeller, which is not dissimilar in size and speed. Having done countless crossings of all the oceans of the globe, there are no reports of any sea creature attacking one.

Further, there is an unbroken continual load path of steel from the impellor right through the towing tube to the boat. (The towing tube has an internal matrix of woven steel mesh surrounding the smooth food grade central core tube). The design load is half a ton and ultimate breaking strain of more than three times that figure."

I've heard mixed reports, mostly negative, about the Waterlog watermakers. Practical Sailor is supposed to be doing a report on the Waterlog in an upcoming issue. I look forward to seeing what it says.

However, there have been quite a few reports about the Waterlog company not responding and not providing any customer service or support. Also, several of their distributors have stopped working with them, for the same reasons.

I also have to wonder about Tarran and Mumec. They are both new posters and seem to be advocating the Waterlog. It would far less suspicious if either of them had posts before and outside of this thread. Maybe, I am being too cynical, but given what I've heard about the company, I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to drum up business this way.

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Telstar 28
New England

You know what the first rule of sailing is? ...Love. You can learn all the math in the 'verse, but you take
a boat to the sea you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turning of the worlds. Love keeps
her going when she oughta fall down, tells you she's hurting 'fore she keens. Makes her a home.

—Cpt. Mal Reynolds, Serenity (edited)

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